By ASHWIN PINTO
Indiantelevision.com Team

(7 August 2006 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: In an increasingly competitive television landscape it is important for the niche English entertainment channels to innovate in terms of how they push their products. A case in point is the National Geographic Channel (NGC).

One of its big properties is Megastructures 2. The show which kicked off on 31 July is airing at 10 pm till 11 August. In order to use the internet to promote the programme, NGC tied up with Media2win to create an interactive game – Megalinx. In the game jigsaw pieces fall from the top of the screen, one by one, and can be moved by the user to create the perfect picture.

The show showcases Megamarvels from the Hoover Dam to the Itaipu Dam to the Akaishi Kaiko Bridge, The second season of Megastructures further reveals the drama, human interest and breath taking technological innovation behind the world's most impressive structures.

Speaking to indiantelevision.com on the online initiative which runs till 15 August NGC VP marketing Rajesh Sheshadri says, "We worked with Megalinx to find out how we could push this property in an effective manner. Our audience is internet savvy. They are also willing to try out new things. In addition, the game Tetris is popular and so we decided to do an online game similar to Tetris which is based on Megastructures. The show takes viewers through how famous structures were built from scratch. So the game is a natural extension.

"We basically wanted a Think again way to promote the series. MegaLinx has made it possible. The game is unique, fun, informative and addictive".

The pieces that users can move form a picture of one of the Megastructures featured on the show. There are three megastructures to complete over 3 levels. Each level gets more challenging. In addition, participants can win a trip to Dubai – the home of a Megamarvel: Palm Islands.

Sheshadri adds that so far the game has so far received 10,000 playhits. "We had earlier created an online game to push a property on The History channel called Secret Agents. The basic aim is that there should be a fit between the property and the marketing mechanism we use. We are using the online medium to push the game.

"So we are pushing the game on contests2win, on our own site as well as on sites like Indiatimes where we have taken up banner space. The focus of the campaign is on the core proposition Feel Small. There are innovations such as a larger than usual mouse cursor on the Sify homepage and a shrunken Indiatimes homepage.

Media2win CEO Krishna Kumar said, “This was an exciting brief to work on. We created an atmosphere to ensure that consumers get some interesting factoids while getting entertained. Megalinx gives you edutainment in a gaming format. Also the core idea of “Feel Small” has been captured by a couple of interesting innovations”.

Sheshadri adds that the NGC site was relaunched a few months ago. The display has been changed and it is now more interactive. "We have a viewers Club where if fans sign in they can download wallpaper. They can also watch broadband clips" he says.